I believe that in order for people to take action, the required steps must be simple and easily defined. Following that principle, our Structured Business Development Program is based on the following 3 pillars:

We help you work out what’s important for you personally and in your business over the next 5, 10 or 15 years, depending on your circumstances,

What can be achieved in the next 90 days

Insist on monthly check-ins to keep you accountable

A One Page Business Plan underpins the entire program and if you can’t fit what you want to do on one page, then it’s not a priority. It’s that simple.

The truth is, as much as we would love to do and have everything, we can’t.

The trick is to strategically choose to do the things that will require the least amount of your time and resources and deliver the greatest results.

What we are doing here is following the universally accepted and proven Pareto Principal, which in this instance stipulates that 20% of our efforts will deliver 80% of our results.

With an investment of just 3-4 hours a month, you will gain clarity, direction and accountability.

How to gain Clarity, Direction and Accountability in your business

Every good business plan is built to provide a balance between:

Long Term Objectives (usually 5-10 years)

SWOT analysis and identification of your business drivers

90 day action plan

Measurement by KPIs so you know if you achieved the desired result for the quarter

Let’s break this down…

Long Term Objectives

If you are serious about growing your business, then a really great place to start is by remembering why you went into business in the first place.

From this, you can develop your “WHY” e.g. Bill Gates’ dream was “to put a computer on everyone’s desk?

Look at what your business stands for, what it will look like when it is finished, what are you brand promises and think about what 3 words describe your business and use that description in all communications, including social media.

SWOT analysis and identification of your business drivers

Not only do we drill down on you SWOTs (identifying your business’ Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) but we take a close look at how you can use these to your advantage or take action to improve your position and/or mitigate a risk.

A good example is AUTOMATION, which is affecting every industry. According to a report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (The STEM Imperative: Future Proofing Australia’s Workforce), 50% of jobs being done today will not exist in 20 years from now. Instead of lamenting this, how can you be a “disruptor” to your industry or automate your business ahead of the pack and take advantage of this?

90 day action plan

A plan is useless unless we take action. Think of your business like a car with 12 cylinders.

Time Management

Priority Management

Productivity

Productisation

Marketing

Sales/Sales processes

HR/Employees/Incentivisation

Leadership

Budgeting/Reporting/Monitoring

Systems/IT

Quantity Assurance/Surveying

Innovation/Renewal

Chances are, some are firing better the others. The trick is to get your business firing on all 12 cylinders!

Choosing the area that will have the biggest impact on your business if you can get it right, is a great place to start. Use visual reminders around your place of work to remind you of WHAT it is you want to achieve in the next 90 days and WHY.

For example: a spaceship for “Lift off – taking my business to the next level”, Construction site tape and tools for “Under construction – new systems and automated processes”.

Take productisation as an example. Instead of taking the time to quote individually for each enquiry, imagine the ongoing time save that could be achieved if you could group the services into packages based on volume or inclusion – see the pricing examples here on Fraser Scott website.

Once packaged this way, it’s just a case of tweaking to tailor a product or service to the customers’ specific requirements. Getting this sorted frees up time to work on the next cylinder.

Once you’ve identified the area of your business you want to work on, we ask what resources do I need?; What processes to I need?; and What people do I need? And we cost each.

The beauty of this approach is that you don’t need to do everything yourself. There are plenty of people with fantastic specialist skills that can get the job done much faster than you e.g. a bookkeeper.

Once objectives/outcomes/goals of each action are identified, assign a responsible person (can be you, your staff or external consultant) and a completion date. You’re done!

Measurement by KPIs so you know if you achieved the desired result for the quarter

Make the planning exercise exciting. Reward yourself and your staff for achievement. Gift vouchers, skydiving vouchers, day off, etc… Whatever it takes to motivate you and the people you want to engage to help you achieve your goal.

Check in monthly with someone external to update and review progress and clear mental blocks and reset.

Shoot for a minimum of 80% achievement of what you have set out to do.

Conclusion

Now when you sit down to do a business plan, you should be far more confident of the final outcomes. Plan this way and it will happen!

You will be amazed at what you can achieve if you focus on the issues for long enough. And the best part is, you don’t need to do all the work.

For a complimentary ticket to attend our next Structured Business Development Plan Workshop just email “Show me How” to john.scott@fraserscott.com.au

‘From day one I found FRASER SCOTT & CO showed a real interest and enthusiasm in providing a service that would justify my bookkeeping and accounting needs.’

Stewart Peterson, Managing Director of Just Flights Pty. Ltd.

‘FRASER SCOTT & CO was proficient in installing the MYOB program to be consistent with our requirements and match our established manual accounting procedures. They also provided us with a procedure to reduce our payroll processing by over fifty percent.’

Bruce Applebaum, Managing Director of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra

Thanks John for all your help developing a financial solution that met my new family's needs. With a firm budget in mind, you never gave up: obtaining an ideal mix of products that was 30% cheaper that the original quote. Thank you!

Anthony Fisk

Thank you John Scott for your support and assistance in streamlining my finances and business affairs.
My new business initiative was difficult to envisage, as there were so many variables with a start up in the charity sector. John’s clear vision and his ‘miraculous' one-page plan, help me see forward 3 years, with goals, incentives, needs and rewards. It is a very impressive document which Ive subsequently used for funding applications. John and the one page plan clarified my purpose, which in turn gave me great courage to establish my Foundation.

Kay Schubach

"I've learnt to prioritise better, be more efficient with my time and most importantly communicate my vision to my team more effectively and get them onboard in driving the business. John's guidance has created the opportunity for me to engage my staff in a creative and fun way, with the focus on 90 day periods so you see results straight away.
Any business would benefit from the strategies Fraser Scott employs. If you need help prioritising, implementing goals and you can't afford to wait a year for results, this is the program for you."

Margie Barry, The Chiropractic Works

As the owner of a very young solo practice, I found myself sailing un-chartered waters with not only limited navigational skills, but with the added barrage of bits of advice constantly floating my way like hundreds of messages in bottles!! From my first appointment with Sarah-Beth and John and with their assistance I had drafted a chart, pin-pointed my goals and destinations, plotted a route to get there and then worked out where I need to start. The stress caused by wondering when to tackle the hundreds of frustrating random messages-in-bottles and deciding which advice will work, was removed, because John & Sarah-Beth gave me targeted business expertise and advice that were tailored to my needs!!
I have got new wind in my sails now and I am looking forward to reaching my goals quickly and directly with Sarah-Beth and John’s guidance.